Atheist Richard Dawkins: Slavery Profiteer?

British ethologist, writer and Oxford University graduate Richard Dawkins, watches a film as he attends the launch of the 'Oxford Thinking' campaign at the British Academy in London, on May 28, 2008. (Getty Images)

(Newser)
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Renowned atheist Richard Dawkins fired back at the Telegraph today after the paper accused him of profiting—albeit indirectly—from slavery, the Guardian reports. The Telegraph's article notes that Dawkins' great great great great great grandfather, Henry Dawkins, owned 1,013 Jamaican slaves before he died in 1744. Dawkins called the article "a smear tactic" and says the family slave fortune dwindled long before he was born.

According to Dawkins, the Telegraph reporter called him and quoted a Biblical line about the Lord "visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation." The reporter also suggested that Dawkins—an evolutionary biologist—has a "slave supporting" gene. Dawkins writes in his blog that he expected a "smear" after clashing with a former chancellor of St. Paul's cathedral on a BBC program this week. "But in my wildest dreams I couldn't have imagined the surreal form this one was to take." (Read more Richard Dawkins stories.)

See what happens when people go without their much needed psychiatric drugs....the Guardian obviously isn't providing adequate health coverage.....maybe the government could come up with a plan...

RidersOnTheStorm

Feb 20, 2012 10:51 AM CST

"Oh God", says this atheist windbag Dawkins, when stumped in debate with Church of England minister on BBC Radio 4, 14th February. When asked, he couldn't even give the full title of Darwin's book 'On the Origin of Species'!!! " Giles Fraser: Richard, if I said to you what is the full title of ‘The Origin Of Species’, I’m sure you could tell me that. Richard Dawkins: Yes I could. Giles Fraser: Go on then. Richard Dawkins: On The Origin Of Species.. Uh. With, Oh God. On The Origin Of Species. There is a sub title with respect to the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life." Wha? - no mention of: By Means of Natural Selection Doh http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oCtifNoIsJ4#!

Troll_Detector

Feb 20, 2012 8:18 AM CST

Hilarious. They had to go back to the 1700s to find out something bad about his family. Nice hard-hitting reporting Telegraph.